Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Mercury General Corporation (NYSE:MCY) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $89.53 and last traded at $88.59, with a volume of 191600 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $88.09.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on MCY shares. Wall Street Zen raised Mercury General from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Mercury General in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target (up previously from $90.00) on shares of Mercury General in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Mercury General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Strong Buy” and an average target price of $100.00.

Mercury General Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.51 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43.

Mercury General (NYSE:MCY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The insurance provider reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $1.71. Mercury General had a net margin of 6.76% and a return on equity of 16.61%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Mercury General Corporation will post -0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mercury General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 10th will be given a dividend of $0.3175 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Mercury General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.02%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mercury General

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCY. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Mercury General by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 3,534 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank raised its holdings in shares of Mercury General by 1.9% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 7,726 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $655,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mercury General by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,233 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $352,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP increased its position in Mercury General by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 28,511 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,417,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mercury General by 0.3% in the first quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 49,809 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,784,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. 42.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mercury General Company Profile

Mercury General Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in writing personal automobile insurance in the United States. The company also writes homeowners, commercial automobile, commercial property, mechanical protection, and umbrella insurance products. Its automobile insurance products include collision, property damage, bodily injury, comprehensive, personal injury protection, underinsured and uninsured motorist, and other hazards; and homeowners insurance products comprise dwelling, liability, personal property, and other coverages.